The Ossipees, from a Rookie’s Perspective
4:20am – I’m rather forcefully awakened by the angry beep of my alarm clock. Resisting the ever-appealing lure of the snooze button, I slowly amble out of bed and take note of the steady sound of raindrops falling outside my window. Usually repelled by bad weather, the thought of an intentional rainy day hike brings a smile to my face. Rocket and I had explored the Belknaps the day before (a nice little loop over Mt. Mack and Mt. Klem), and I thoroughly drenched my boots in the process. As I head downstairs to take a shower, I stop briefly by our woodstove to check on their condition. Still drenched. Excellent.
5:00am – The rain seems to intensify as I barrel down route 93 on my way to the trailhead. Being utterly hopeless with directions (the fact that my mind was addled by lack of sleep certainly didn’t help), I had decided to give myself a full additional hour of driving time. About 30 minutes into my journey I realize that I am very low on gas and make a brief stop to fill up/grab an extra large Red Bull in an attempt to wake up. 10 minutes later I’m on my way… music on full blast, amped up on caffeine, and silently cursing the rain for beating down so relentlessly.
7:30am – Amazingly, I was able to find McDuffee Road with relative ease (only two text messages to Rocket asking for directions… quite an accomplishment!
). Parking my car on the side of the road, I’m greeted by the fantastic sight of – a bull moose! – grazing nonchalantly about 20 feet ahead of me. He doesn’t seemed fazed at all by our presence… that is, until Virga and Emma arrive, at which point he becomes quite nervous at the sight of the dogs, jogs off along the road, and (with surprising grace, I must say), jumps over a stone wall and takes off across an adjacent field. I find myself very excited, seeing as I’ve never gotten so close to a moose before in my entire life.
As time passes, more and more people begin to arrive. Being a rookie, many of the faces are unfamiliar to me, and my shyness starts to kick in a little. By the time 8:00 rolls around, our numbers have swelled to… 18? 19? 20? – a huge turnout for the hike. Four separate cars are needed to transport the group to the trailhead on Mountain Road! I place my backpack in the back of Rocket’s truck, and then hitch a ride with MichaelJ and his friend (please remind me of your name – I feel terrible!). As soon as we set off, it begins to downpour. Cold, hard, sheets of rain... I worry that my gear will be soaked!
Sometime after 8:00am – We arrive at Mountain Road. By this time, the rain had subsided to little more than a drizzle, though I opt to put on my rain jacket anyway. After gathering for a quick group shot, we’re off! A thick coating of leaves blanket the trail, which is wide and starts to climb almost instantly. Soon, we pass a section of trail that had very recently been logged, making the footing very muddy. At this point, Trail Bandit directs us to the left, where the trail narrows and is marked by a very pretty blue and metallic badge/blaze. Within five minutes or so, it steepens up considerably, as we slowly make our way up Sentinal Mountain. The slippery wet rocks make the ascent a little tough, and I find myself grabbing onto all sorts of little trees and roots to stop myself from falling. After a minor scramble up a particularly slippery rock ledge, the views suddenly open up. Big bold clouds in every shade of grey imaginable stretch beautifully across the sky. Although the wind is strong and chills my rain-drenched clothes almost instantaneously, the cold seems negligible to me. Caught up in the splendor of the surrounding scenery, I can do little but stand in place with a huge grin plastered across my face. Soon, the “purist” in me snaps back to life… and I decide to take a quick side trip to the official high point, which is in a small treed-in area a little to my left. Our group then gathers once again for a summit photo, and in no time at all we’re off down the Mountain trail on our way to Mt. Flagg.
Sentinel Mountain to Mt. Flagg – Man, is the going tough! I’m not exactly the most coordinated of beings, and find myself slipping and sliding all over the wet leaves and rocks. W7xman, noticing my clumsiness, kindly offers to lend me one of his poles… but I am determined to preserve on my own. The trail conditions don’t seem to affect Rocket at all, however – He bounds ahead of all of us at an enviable speed, cutting back branches and moving blow downs as he makes his way along the trail. Soon, we encounter a particularly large one that requires the combined strength of Kevin and MichaelJ (hyped up on his espresso shot) to disassemble and remove. We stop briefly to gather at the Merrowvista ledges, another lovely ledgy outlook with fantastic views, but are soon on our way again once more. The blazing on the trail is very extensive, and would definitely make for a very pleasant headlamp hike (especially if one was to get lost in dark conditions). We pass a small cabin (a new future AMC hut, perhaps? ;-)), and soon start to spread out again as a group. Looking back, I smile as I see the long stretch of orange snaking its way along the trail. At least we know that we’ll more than stand out to any potential hunters in the woods. Upon reaching a second cabin/shelter, we stop again to take a break and regroup. Feeling cold and more than a little hungry, I put on my gloves and munch on a particularly yummy apple. The ledges of Mt. Flagg are visible through the trees. As we start to ascend our second peak, the terrain changes considerably. Leaf-coated ground gives way to (dry!) rocky trail. We soon hit a section that’s bizarrely flat, and resembles a sidewalk more than anything else. After a little more climbing (including a very cool rock scramble), we are soon on the ledges just below Mt. Flagg. Rocket and I have a little time to spare, so we drop our backpacks and make a quick trip to the summit. The views, once again, are just gorgeous. I hop up on one of the summit rocks to ensure that I’ve reached the very highest point. Looming ominously ahead of us stands Mt. Shaw, our highpoint of the day… just itching to be climbed.
Mt. Flagg to Mt. Shaw – After retrieving my backpack, I continue down the trail with Kevin, Judy, Silverfox, w7xman, Trail Bandit, and two of our adorable canine companions (Emma and Virga). The footing is a little tough as we descend briefly between the peaks, but becomes a lot smoother as we begin to climb through magnificent birch glades. The wind picks up considerably at this point, and I soon find it necessary to put on another layer. The ascent is moderate yet steady, and within no time at all we’re on the summit of Mt. Shaw. Once again, we were greeted by incredible views – Unfortunately, I’m not yet very knowledgeable when it comes to determining the location of nearby mountains, but knew for certain that Chocorua was visible in the distance. Chilled again by the wind, I crouch down on a little log bench and pull on my lovely warm fleece hat. We linger on the summit for quite a while, eating our lunch and taking in the scenery around us. I feel like such an idiot for having forgotten to bring my camera on such a perfect day.
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